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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cell — a phone
  3. current — electric
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. track — a path
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. game — a match
  16. current — happening now
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. track — a song
  21. last — finally
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. current — of water
  24. cell — in biology

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com